The impact of the circular economy on sustainable development: A European panel data approach

The circular economy (CE) has attracted considerable attention because of its potential to help achieve sustain-able development (SD). This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the effect of the CE on the three dimen-sions of SD at the country level. We analysed the impact of each CE source of value (renewable energy, reuse, repair, recycling) and the influence of an overall factor-analysis-derived measure of the CE on the economic, en-vironmental and social dimensions of SD. The aim was to compare the individual impacts and outcomes of the CE and its sources of value in a single study. Panel data analysis was performed using a sample of 25 European coun-tries for the period 2010 to 2019. The findings show a major impact of the CE on achieving SD, which has positive effects on the economy, environment and society. However, the results show that the impact of each CE value source on the three SD dimensions varies. While renewable energies and reuse reduce the impact on the environ-ment, recycling has no effect, and repair increases GHG emissions. However, repair is the only CE source with a positive economic impact at the country level. Finally, renewable energy, repair and recycling reduce unemploy-ment. Decision makers should conduct impact analysis to design suitable, efficient and targeted measures de-pending on each country's specific objectives. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

The circular economy has a significant impact on sustainable development, with positive effects on the economy, environment, and society. The impact of each source of value in the circular economy varies, with renewable energy and reuse reducing environmental impact, recycling having no effect, and repair increasing greenhouse gas emissions.